As far as I am aware, Horse Levels are tramming levels.Therefor generally, but not always, at the lowest point directly accesable to surface (not necessarily the lowest working level)Obviously not all tramming levels were horse drawn. In bigger, deeper mines there are tramming levles much deeper below. I stand to be corrected but as far as I know horse level is much the same as tramming level
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The Horse Level on the New Glencreiff Vein at Wanlockhead, for example, is definitely not the lowest adit.

Strangely, it does not seem to be well situated to bring ore out of, halfway up a steep little glen.

I'm slightly confused here. I don't think the term applies in the south west but are not adits and levels ( horse or otherwise) separate, not only practically but in terminology as well. Perhaps it's a regional thing.
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More or less. I understood them to be tunnels driven almost horizontally from low ground to allow natural drainage of mines on higher ground. They also gave access and ventilation to shallow workings as well as allowing miners to discover new lodes by cutting crosscutting tunnels. I'm not sure about their connection to levels so my slight confusion with Tiger99s post. IP: 88.105.198.58

That's how I've always understood it too carnkie - adits are the lowest (drainage) levels out to day. The horse levels were the principle drawing levels, not necessarily the lowest, but coming to day at a convenient point for dressing floors or onward transport.

Just looked at Greenwell's " Glossary of terms used.........in Northumberland and Durham" (1888) definition of "adit". "A drift commonly waterlevel, driven into a mine from a hillside, a grove". A grove = "a drift or adit driven into a hillside from which coal is worked. a drift into a seam of coal from the outcrop".

I never new that a sough might not be out to day. But that may be because we don't have soughs in Scotland, probably because we don't know how to pronounce the word.

Am I correct in thinking that it rhymes with "plough"?

Now, concerning surface features sometimes found at mines, but also at mills and other places too, we don't have "leats" but we do have "lades".

But maybe we all can agree that a shaft is a shaft? Or maybe not.....

It's usually pronounced "suff" but some old documents talk about sowes so it's possible both pronuncuations were in use in the past. A sough is always a drainage level, but where t'owd man found an underground sink hole, as they did at Chapeldale, Marks Dale and Tideslow Rake, they might drive a level to it for drainage. You also sometimes see the term "water gate" used for a sough.

Just to throw even more confusion into the mix, a sough tail that came to day might be referred to as a bolt, especially if it was cut-and-cover work, and a leat is sometimes referred to as a goit, especially in connection with a water wheel, or a launder....

Might be interesting then to define what a level is, or perhaps eye opening. As far as I'm aware the levels were measured below the adit.

I think the West Country and North Wales use different terminology, not helped by Ordnance Survey marking all adits as "level" or "old level".

Adits, as ME said earlier refers to any level that comes out to the surface, at whatever height of the mine. The various levels are normally called floors if underground even if they go out to the surface too. Tunnels for drainage are often just referred to as "Drainage Adits"

Winze is an underground shaft not breaking through to surface. It may or may not connect to another level.

A raise is a shaft that goes upwards and may or may not connect to another level.

Adit is the lowest level in that part of the workings. Most of the mines in my area were started at the top of the hill and as the work has progressed lower down into the valley a new adit would have been driven in to access the workings. If it drains the mine, then I call it an Adit even if that means the mine may have 2 - 3 drainage adits at different horizons, the rest are levels.

In coal mining the usual term for a "blind" shaft, i.e. not from the surface, was "staple pit", though winze was sometimes used.

Shafts don't have to be vertical, generally a shaft is considered to be an opening steeper than 45 degrees, under that it is a drift, although it could still be an unwalkable outlet (the Honister Inclines are 1 in 1.4 but without the steps and ladders are just on the walkable limit).

Re winzes/raises - I'm probably missing something here but what purpose were they for if not connecting to other levels?
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